James p



1. P. SELSOR.

Cotton-Planter Screw-Feed.'

Ne. 52,447.vv Patented Feb. 26, 1867.-

J y Witnesses: Inventor,

AM. PHUTl-ITHDJIU. N.Y. (OSBQRNE'S PROCESS) @sinh fairs @anni @frn IMPRUVEMENT IN COTTON PLANTER.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.:

Be itknown that I, JAMES P. SELSon, ot' Shelbyville Post Oliice, in the county et' Shelby, and Sta-tc of Missouri, have invented alnew and improved Cotton Planter; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description"thereof', reference heling had-to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top View of the machine.

Figure 2 is a side elevation ofthe same.

Figure S is a longitudinal secti.ontaken in the vertical planeindieated by red lino a: 3:, in 1igl, showing the machine in position for operation. I i

Figure il is n similar section ofthe same parts with the seed-dropping devices and covering devices elevated.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improved machine which is adapted for planting cotton seed and coverin` and rolling the same.

The nature of my invention consists in attachinr to a carriage, which is mounted upon grooved transportingwheels that press and gather the earth over the deposited seed, and which is also provided with a longitudinal drivers seat, that allows of the driver raising and depressing` the front part of this carriage at pleasure by changing his position, a frame which has applied to it the seed-boxes and seed-dropping devices, and also the markers and covering devices; said frame being hinged to the carriage frame at one end, and attached to 'and supported by the team at the other end, in such manner that the driver, whilstsitting upon the carriage, can elevatevand depress the coverers, seed droppers, and markers, and at the same time stop and start the movement ofthe dreppers, all as will .be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in lthe art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation..

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the carriage frame, which consists of longitudinal and trans-l verse beams firmly secured together, and which is mounted upon two transporting-Wheels B B, the peripherics of which are made very wide,`and are grooved as represented in .the drawings, iig. 1,so as to gather and compress the earth about the seed after it is dropped und covered. These wheels are applied on a transverse axle, C, which is allowed to turn freely with the wheels B when the machine is moved forward, but which does not turn when the machine `is moved backward; this is edected by means of ratchet-wheels, a a, on the axle C, and spring pawls a a on the wheels. At an. intermediate point between the longitudinal beams of frame A, a bevel spur-wheel, D, is keyed on the axle C, which wheel engages with another bevel-wheel D, on a longitudinal shaft, E, which has its bearings upon thetwo front cross-beams of said frame, and which carries on its front end a bevel spur-wheel, E', as clearly shown in the drawings. A rock-shaft, F, 'extends transversely across the.

rear end of frame A, and is supported by bearings which are secured to the lower side of this frame; this shaft has'scrapers, (rb, secured to its projecting ends, which are adapted for clearing the concave grooves in the peripheries et" the transporting-wheels B, and which will clear these grooves of adhering earth when pressed into them by raising the front end of lever-armF. When the arm F is released, it drops-upon frame A and releases the clearers b from their wheels. lhe driver, who controls the machine, sits upon the elevated seat G, which extends longitudinally from the front to the rear of frame A, and is secured upon posts, as shown in iigsi 2, 3, and 4, The object ofsuch a seat is to allow the driver to throw his weight forward or behind the axle O, as `circumstances may require. A second frame, H, is attached` by means of pivots, c c, to the front ends of frame A, and to the front part of this frame H the tongue or draught-pole I is suitably secured, so that when attached to the horses the 'front end of said frame will not drop down. The sides of frame H are extended laterally, and have secured to them the'inclined shoes or markers J J, which are in front of thc wheels B B, so that these wheels will press upon the earth, covering the seed. Directly in rear of the markers J J, and attached to them, are the seed-tubes K K, which open into the channels which are formed in the bottoms of the seed-boxes L L, and thus conduct the cotton seed from these boxes downward and deposit this in the drills. Near the lower ends of these tubes Kfand arranged on each side of them, in front and rear, are the covering scrapers e e, which throw the earth loosely over the seed as it drops into the drills. These Scrapers are secured to standards d d which are secured to beams ggj the beams are pivoted to' the markers J J at their front ends,

and connected together at their rear ends, in pairs, by cross-pieces d 0l. These covers `can be raised and depressed by means of levers ff, which are pivoted to the rear outer corners of seed-boxes L,.and connected to the cross-pieces d by means of links f f. The distributors consist of spiral flanges h 71. formed on short shafts It* hl which have their bearings in the sides ofthe boxes L, and which project from the, inner sides of these boxes short distances, and have square sockets formed in their ends for receiving` the ends ofr' the intermediate shaft h2, as shown in fig. 1. The spiral flanges turn freely in semicircular chambers which arc formed in the bottoms of the boxes'L, and conduct the cotton seed beneath plates or guards z' z', where the seeds dropthrough the tubes K. The shaft has a bevel spur-wheel, j, keyed upon it in such a position that when the markers l J are upon the ground, as shown in figs. 2 and 3, this wheel will engage with the teeth of the spur-wheel E on the shaft E of carriage frame A, and thus 'the operation of dropping the seed will take place when the machine is drawn forward. But when the driver moves backward upon the seat G, so as throw his weight behind the axle C, the front end of frame A and rear end of frame H will be raised, and the two wheels E and j will be disengaged, thus stopping the rotation of the dropping-screws, and consequently stopping the operation of dropping seed. 'lhis position of the parts is represented in iig. 4. The simple backward movement of the driver upon his seat Gr not only stops the discharge of the'seed, but lifts `the ent-ire frame H with its markers and coverers free from the ground. Then, by a forward movement ofthe driver, said parts are all brought back to a working position again, and the seed is discharged from the hoppers. Should the seed-tubes become choked with the seeds, the intermediate shaftcan be removed from the sockets in the ends of-screwshafts h1, and these latter slipped from `their bearings in boxes L; this will allow of access being had to the seed-tubes for clearing them, after which the three shafts can be returned to their proper places again. To prevent displacement of the shafts L t2 during the operation of the' machine, pins, c, are inserted through them, as shown in fig. 1, which will prevent e'ndwise play.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the frames Aand H, which are hinged together as described, of the'grooved transporting-wheels B B, turning-shaft' C, spur-Wheels D D E j, removable shaft liz, screw distributing shaft 7L t, seed hoppers L, markersnl, and coverers e e, all arranged and operating substantiallyv as described.

2. In combination with the hinged frames A and H, I claim the arrangement of the spur-wheels upon said frames, in such manner that tlie'twopvlieels j and E will be disengaged by the upward movement of the front end of frame A substantially as described.. l v

The application of independently adjustable coverers e c to a frame, H, which is hinged to a frame,-A, in combination with the grooved pressing-wheels B, and the adjustable clearers or scrapers b b, all arranged and operating substantially as described. l

4. The combination of the soclieted distributing serewshafts z L, with the intermediate removable driving* shaft h2, and spur-wheel 7' applied to the hinged fra-me H, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

JAMES P. SELSOR.

Witnesses:

C. M. SHACKELFORD, W. L. McMURRr. 

